Clock vs Streamer advice

My apologies... Roon integration seems to be disabled at this time, or it is specific to certain Aurender units. I was using the Conductor app in January and saw the feature in the settings, but as I use my N30SA now I see it is no longer there. Perhaps this was enabled for beta users and dealers, or perhaps I saw it when I last used the new Aurender AP20. In either case, it looks like this has not yet been publicly rolled out.

@lalitk Where did you get the custom data cable? It has been on my list to build one for myself as I made a custom power umbilical. The SR Master Fuse is quite good in the N30SA. Hope that’s what you swing for!

@zpatenaude37 Definitely move away from the computer as others said. There are three areas that a quality streamer focuses on that largely results in the quality of its performance.
 

First is noise reduction, which is actually two areas. The first is in the power supply, and better units like Aurender will implement high quality linear power supplies to reduce DC ripple. The second area will be in the hardware architecture and isolation characteristics, which keep EMI and RFI out of the chassis and away from different components inside the chassis. People really underestimate what that can do to the sound. With both of these covered, a delicate digital signal will have more resolution, a lower noise floor, and a deeper, wider, more engaging soundstage. 

The third area is clocking, where the better the clock, the more in focus the image is. It’s very similar to photography. Where you can use a subpar lens and get an image that seemingly is focused, you can then compare it to a high quality lens and see what the subpar lens is unable to capture. Or it’s like a lens that is just slightly out of focus vs one that is not. The dynamics improve, edges are a little less hazy, and overall the presentation is much more palpable. 

Given your components and speakers, which are quite revealing, you ought to be investing in a higher quality streamer than the ones you mention. The streamer is your source, similar to a turntable without the phono stage. In your system setup, I could easily see a $5-7K turntable outfit and $3-5K phono stage. You’ve got a $9K DAC, and will benefit from a $5-7K streamer. 

Being an authorized Aurender dealer, the Aurender N200 by audphile1 is a great suggestion. I haven’t yet come across another streamer in its price range that sounds better (I get a number of streamers in trade). Even if not the N200, I suggest you save a bit more or wait for a higher priced unit to come on the used market. That said, warranties count for something, as streamers are inherently computers, and who hasn’t had computer problems? Many times it’s worth buying new just so that you’re not stuck with a lemon in the long run. 

@audphile1 @zpatenaude37 Aurender has already implemented Roon integration, but to date it is only to allow Aurender be a Roon endpoint. This means a separate Roon core is still required. To enable the Aurender to be a Roon endpoint, users just need to go to the “streaming” panel in the Conductor app. 

@lalitk I have not, though I hope to get an MC10 in my hands for demo this quarter. I’ve heard the performance improves even if only using it with the  N30SA and nothing else.

As another fun evaluation, I’ll also have the new Synergistic Research Voodoo server/streamer in a few weeks and will be able to compare that to the N30SA. Should be exciting!